UN rights chief criticizes inadequate Gaza war crimes probes by Israel, Palestinians

UN rights chief says Gaza war probes inadequate

GENEVA — The U.N.’s top human rights official criticized Israeli and Palestinian authorities on Wednesday for failing to properly investigate alleged war crimes last year in the Gaza Strip.

A U.N.-appointed expert panel led by South African Judge Richard Goldstone recommended in September that Israel and the Palestinians conduct independent investigations into the three-week war. The U.N. General Assembly last month voted to give both sides five more months to complete the probes after U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told the global body he could not determine whether the parties had conducted credible investigations.

“Investigations launched by the Israeli government into alleged violations related to the military operations in Gaza of December 2008-January 2009 remain inadequate to provide effective remedies,” Navi Pillay, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, said in her report.

Palestinian authorities had only recently started their investigations, but “there is at this point no indication of credible investigations having taken place with regard to allegations of violations by Palestinian armed groups” such as Hamas, she added.

Pillay urged the sides to investigate and punish those responsible for the alleged abuses during the three-week war, during which 13 Israelis and almost 1,400 Palestinians were killed, including many civilians.

Ibrahim Khraishi, the Palestinian envoy at the U.N. in Geneva, said he expects credible probes to be carried out in the coming months.

Israeli officials in Geneva declined to comment ahead of the report’s presentation to the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva on Monday.

The report also criticizes human rights violations resulting from Israel’s construction of Jewish homes in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, which has led to violence between Palestinians and Israeli security forces in recent days.

On the Net:

Report by U.N. rights official: bit.ly/9FDiki